Today’s Tidbits is taken from the Beaumont Enterprise Newspaper special section called the Farm Corner written by Joe R. Combs about 1957.

On a recent visit to Center the writer had the opportunity to visit for a short time with W.O. Wilson, an old-timer of the Center community. One of the first jewelry stores the writer ever saw was that of Mr. Wilson. He began in the watch making and jewelry business in Center he says in 1892 and was active in the business, until three or four years ago.

Today at the age of 91 he would be accepted by almost anyone as a man of 65. He is very active, and can talk for hours about the “old days” of that community. He was born in 1866 south of Atlanta, Ga. And left there in 1889, about the time the trek to Texas was in its heyday. Many prominent families of East Texas came from Georgia and Alabama about that time, and when traveling through these old states the names common to this region are also frequently seen on rural mail boxes there.

There were the Becks, Wilsons, Gibsons, Hardees, Humphries, Beauchamps, Sanders, Adams, and many others who still have relatives in the “old states’ as they called them. Texas was new then, and it was wild and woolly in many ways. These early settlers in the area brought their lands for as low as $1 per acre and carved a home out of virgin forests. They had timber for home building and the wild game for food. In that early day men had to be determined and willing to brave all kinds of hardships to make a go if it in this new world.

A few months ago  ”Farm Corner” told about an old Sabine River steamboat, named the Uncle Ben, sank near East Hamilton. It was mentioned that the bell from the boat was given to the Center High School, by Eli Wheeler, a local citizen, and that it was placed on top of the old wooden building, that was replaced about 1908 with a brick structure.

Mr. Wilson says the bell from the Uncle Ben is still being used and still is on top of the old high school building in Center. This historic old bell, that ran out in the stillness of the Sabine bottoms, to announce the approach of the Uncle Ben, deserves a place in a museum. It is the “Liberty Bell” to many men and women who sat in the old buildings in Center and heard it melodious voice clang the hours for recess and dismissal.

Under its vibrating melody great men went out to become congressmen and to fill their places in other ways in American life. Some earned fame on the battlefield and others became great ministers of the Gospel. Many more help to build it into one of our most progressive cities.

Mr. Wilson saw the Texas Rangers in action on more than one occasion when the peace and quiet of the community was interrupted. For many years his was the only jewelry store in Center, and later W.C. Corbitt became a popular businessman in the jewelry business, but his firm did not exist many years. Mr. Wilson trained several young men and inspired them to start their own jewelry business including Travis Price of Center.

George Holman was the court bailiff, says Mr. Wilson, and he had a voice like a fog horn. He came out on the second floor portico of the old courthouse to call witnesses and jurors, and to announce the opening of court. Men from all over town could hear him calling, and would head for their duties at the courthouse. The public square would be a mass of humanity during important trails, with hundreds of wagons and buggies; and teams tied to the chain fence.

Patent medicine auctioneers were always on the job with their acts to draw the crowds. Everything from East India blood purifier to watches and razors were offered by these auctioneers and they did a land office business. There was never a dull moment and the country folk always looked forward to a trip to Center.

They usually went home, well supplied with the auctioneer’s wares, as well as their peaberry coffee and other supplies. (Note:  Peaberry is a description of the coffee bean itself, and peaberries spontaneously appear on all coffee trees and varieties. Coffee is a fruit, and as such, it has seeds. The coffee beans we have come to know and love are the seeds of coffee cherries. Normally, these cherries develop two seeds, but for unknown reasons, some cherries only develop one. These only children are known as peaberries, named for their round resemblance of the pea.)  And what is more, they were happy people with plenty of faith in themselves and their country. They built well for those of us who are fortunate enough to still be on the scene.